Church Of Saints Peter And Paul

The Church of Saints Peter and Paul stands in Church Street, Olney, at the southern end of the town on the banks of the River Ouse. The building dates from the early 14th century with significant later alterations. In 1807, the clerestory was removed, part of the north aisle was rebuilt, and the north porch was constructed. At the same time, roofs featuring internal carvings were removed; by 1825, some of the carved figures and heads from these roofs could be seen ornamenting gardens and buildings throughout the town. The south aisle was rebuilt in 1831. Sir Gilbert Scott undertook extensive restoration work around 1874–76, with further work carried out in 1880, 1883 and 1885.

Exterior

The church is built of ashlar stone with tiled roofs. It comprises a nave with two aisles, chancel, and west tower. The tall tower is topped by a very fine Northamptonshire-style broach spire dating from the late 14th century. The tower rises in three diminishing stages with diagonal buttresses, surmounted by a stone broached spire with four sets of lucarnes, their hoods emphasising the spire's entasis. Octagonal pinnacles stand at the base of the spire, probably from the 17th century. The west doorway in the tower has a pointed head and is moulded. Above the door sits a small west window with two trefoiled lights beneath mouchettes and a quatrefoil, with a hood mould terminating in head stops. A clock occupies the second stage, and the third stage contains a window similar to that below, though new or restored. The north and south aisles are buttressed and embattled. The chancel roof is more steeply pitched than that of the nave. Lavishly crocketed finials adorn the east end of the chancel. A straight parapet on the north and south sides of the chancel is supported by a corbel course embellished with grotesques and flowers. The north porch of 1807 has a plain entrance doorway with a two-centred drop arch beneath a pointed two-light window.

Interior

The interior is spacious, having been 'scraped' in the 19th century but retaining good 14th-century features. The internal walls are now bare stone. Fine north and south five-bay arcades feature moulded pointed arches supported by quatrefoil columns and responds with moulded capitals and bases. A pointed triple-chamfered tower arch spans the full width of the ground stage, dying into the walls on either side. A wooden screen and gallery from 1996 separates the tower from the nave, with modern facilities having been created in the tower. The nave has a low, segmentally vaulted plaster ceiling dating from 1807.

The north aisle has three three-light windows on the north wall and one on the west, all pointed. The north-west window is shorter with original flowing tracery, while the others have been restored. Blocked windows are visible at a high level next to the two eastern windows; these once lit the gallery erected in 1765 (during the celebrated incumbency of John Newton) which has since been removed. At the south end of the east wall stands a small, worn, cinquefoiled piscina niche with a modern sill. The 19th-century wooden ceiling has braces pierced with quatrefoils. In the south aisle, the tall three-light window openings have been almost entirely replaced. The ceiling matches that in the north aisle.

The chancel has three tall pointed windows in the north and south walls, all restored. The westerly pair is of the low-side type, having transoms in line with the sills of the other windows, their own sills being lower. The windows sit on a continuous roll moulding which follows these differing levels. The five-light east window was restored by Scott, the design based on the church at nearby Emberton; the two churches share other features. To the east of the south wall stands a triple sedilia with piscina, separated by circular shafts, all but the piscina itself almost entirely renewed. Opposite the sedilia sits a wide Easter Sepulchre with a moulded drop arch, the tomb chest featuring quatrefoil panels in a delicately ornamented framework. At the east end of the north wall is an aumbry with a wooden door. A small pointed doorway pierces the south wall. The chancel has a modern wooden ceiling. The chancel arch comprises three moulded orders, dying into the wall on the north side and into a short, corbelled projection to the south.

Glass

The south-west and north-west windows of the chancel date from 1973 and were created by Wippell Mowbray Church Furnishings, commemorating John Newton and William Cowper. The east window is by Holland of Warwick, 1870. Other glass in the chancel dates from the 19th century. At the east end of the north aisle, a Chapel of Remembrance features a north-east window by George Cooper Abbs, 1946, given in thanks for the safe return of many men of Olney from the First World War and honouring illustrious men connected with Olney: Newton, Cowper, and the organist Henry John Gauntlett.

Monuments

In the chancel stands a grey marble wall tablet with mourning cherubs and gadrooned sill commemorating Catherine Johnson (died 1680). On the south wall hangs a curious curvilinear shield to Moses Browne (died 1787), vicar of Olney 1753–1787, and his son (died 1807). On the north wall of the north aisle is a monument to William Games (died 1657) with a broken pediment and naive skull.

Furnishings

Notable furnishings include a reredos of around 1896 by Jones & Hollis and a late 16th-century octagonal font, no longer in service. A plain 18th-century pulpit, reputed to be the one used by John Newton, stands in the south-west corner of the church. Behind it hangs the plaque formerly on Newton's coffin, removed when Newton's remains were brought here from St Mary Woolnoth. At the east end of the south aisle stands the organ by James Jepson Binns.

History

A church existed in the parish from a very early period. Local tradition suggests it once stood on a different site, and since no vestige remains of a building earlier than the mid-14th century in the present structure, this may be correct.

The advowson of the church was appendant to the manor until 1482–83, when Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and his wife Anne conveyed it to the dean and canons of the Chapel of St George, Windsor; the conveyance does not appear to have been effectual, and in 1487–88 both manor and advowson passed into the possession of the Crown. In 1502 the advowson was granted to the Abbey of Syon. After the dissolution of the monasteries, the rectory was let until the early 17th century, when rectory and advowson were granted to Sir John Ramsey, a Scottish favourite of James I. Thereafter, the patronage passed through many hands.

From the mid-18th century, the church of Saints Peter and Paul, Olney, became a centre of the evangelical revival. This was partly due to the 2nd Earl of Dartmouth, who in 1753 was responsible for the appointment of Moses Browne (1704–1787). Browne's poems on spiritual and other subjects were much admired, particularly 'Sunday Thoughts' (1750), as was his 1750 edition of Isaak Walton's 'Compleat Angler' (undertaken at the suggestion of Samuel Johnson). The living of Olney not being sufficient to support his large family, Browne accepted the chaplaincy of Morden College, Blackheath, and Browne's duties at Olney were left to a curate-in-charge. Once again the Earl of Dartmouth exerted his influence, and John Newton was chosen, the most famous priest to have been associated with the church.

John Newton (1725–1807) had spent the early part of his career as a slave trader. From 1745–1754 he worked on slave ships, serving as captain on three voyages; he was involved in every aspect of the slaver's trade, and his log books record the torture of rebellious slaves. Following his conversion to devout Christianity in 1748, Newton became 'surveyor of tides' at Liverpool, devoting his spare time to private theological study. He soon became one of the area's leading theological laymen, but for some time his radical reputation stood in the way of his finding employment in the Church of England.

Newton served as curate-in-charge at Olney from 1764–1780. Soon after his arrival in Olney in 1764, his autobiography, the 'Interesting Narrative', appeared in print. Newton wrote: 'I hope the publication will give additional weight to my ministry here. The people stare at me since reading them, and well they may.' The 'Narrative' established him as one of the leading figures of the evangelical revival. Newton stayed at Olney for sixteen years, winning fame as a preacher as well as a writer. In addition to services in the church, services and meetings were held in the nearby Great House (demolished in the 19th century), put at Newton's disposal for this purpose by the Earl of Dartmouth.

One of Newton's congregation at Olney was the poet William Cowper (1731–1800), who moved to the town in 1767 in the train of evangelical friends; he remained until 1786. Cowper was converted to the faith, and Newton persuaded him to collaborate in composing what were to become known as the 'Olney Hymns' (published 1779); two of the best-known are 'God moves in a mysterious way' and 'Amazing Grace'. (The latter, sung to a different tune, was to become associated with the struggle for equality in the southern states of America during the 1960s.) William Cowper's was the most influential poetic voice of the late 18th-century abolition movement; 'Charity' (1782), inspired by Newton's history, reproaches the slave merchant who 'grows rich on cargoes of despair', whilst 'The Task' of 1784 appeals to the commonly held belief that slavery was illegal in England ('We have no slaves at home – then why abroad?'). In 1788, at Newton's instigation, Cowper wrote 'The Negro's Complaint' to help whip up anti-slavery sentiment; the poem swept the country, distributed on pamphlets and sung as a ballad. By this time, both Newton and Cowper had left Olney; Newton in 1780 and Cowper in 1786.

Newton's new church was St Mary Woolnoth in the City of London, where he was rector for twenty-seven years. During the 1780s he made his major contributions to the campaign for abolition. Newton encouraged William Wilberforce to devote himself to political work, and it was probably through Wilberforce's persuasion that Newton published 'Thoughts on the African Slave Trade' (1788), which revealed his slaving past for the first time (though some have read 'Amazing Grace' as an expression of repentance); in the same year Newton gave evidence to the parliamentary select committee for examining the slave trade. Newton's singular position as a figure of unimpeachable moral authority with first-hand experience of the slave trade made his contribution to the success of the abolition movement extremely valuable. John Newton died in December 1807, shortly after the Abolition Act passed into law.

The evangelical tradition was maintained at Olney after Newton's departure by his associate Thomas Scott (1747–1821), who remained at the church until 1785. In 1779 Scott had published his own spiritual autobiography, 'The Force of Truth' – the work received stylistic polishing from Cowper – but he is best known for his commentary on the Bible of 1788–92. Scott's work was admired by William Wilberforce. From 1815 to 1833 the vicar of Olney was the evangelical Henry Gauntlett (1762–1833), whose son was Henry John Gauntlett (1805–1876), the celebrated organ designer, organist, and composer. He began his career aged nine as his father's organist at Olney, remaining in the post for ten years.

The church of St Peter and St Paul stands at the south end of the town on the banks of the river Ouse. In the south-east corner of the churchyard stands a monument to John Newton and his wife, erected in 1893 when the building of Bank Underground station led to their bodies being disinterred from St Mary Woolnoth. Beside the tomb stands a small monument commemorating Newton's father-in-law, George Catlett (died 1777). To the north of the church stands the vicarage with attached coach-house, once Newton's home.